THE WORD AT WORK
INDIA: LHF SHARES CPH CATECHISMS WITH THE POOR
People living in the slums of Mumbai, India, are among the poorest in the world. More than a dozen people often crowd into a single room to sleep, and there typically is no indoor plumbing. Public restrooms dump human waste directly into the rivers (pictured at right).
“It is the dream of every Indian parent to get an English education for their children,” said Cherub Sundaram, LHF’s project coordinator in India. “Many of the students (shown above) are the children of laborers who migrated from various parts of the country, in search of jobs in Mumbai. They are in an everyday struggle for their livelihood, and they cannot provide for their children’s education.” Lutheran churches and other non-profit organizations are helping
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provide this English education to the poorest residents in the Mumbai slums.
In February, students at an educational support center run by one of the Lutheran churches received a precious resource: Luther’s Small Catechism in the English language. One hundred thousand catechisms have been sent to India for distribution, thanks to a gift to LHF from Concordia Publishing House (CPH) in honor of LHF’s recent 25th anniversary.
“The joy that I had while distributing these catechisms in the last couple of days is still with me, and I keep cherishing the moments. God’s work is marvelous in our eyes!” Cherub said.
The students have promised to read their catechisms every day, and the instructor is also following up in his teaching.
“The catechism answers many questions that are bothering people, and that’s why it’s a powerful tool for evangelism,” Cherub reflected. “It gives Biblical truths with an order to them. This is a great gift from CPH to LHF, and the book is welcomed and cherished by Indian Lutherans in particular, and Indian Christians in general!”
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flee Myanmar military forces, LHF Bible storybooks bring comfort to persecuted families.
PAGE 4: LCMS pastor’s wife takes creative approach to sharing the Gospel in her workplace.
Kachin people
Dharavi slum in Mumbai
GOSPEL BRINGS COMFORT TO
Imagine mortar shells exploding around your hometown. The screams of women and children being attacked fill your ears; you and your family must flee – now! – or you’ll be killed. Your elderly grandmother urges you to leave her behind, but you cannot bring yourself to leave her for dead. So your family throws together what possessions you can carry, and you lift your grandmother onto your back. You dare not travel the main roads, which are blocked by the military; instead, you must move as stealthily and quickly as possible, on foot, through the countryside. The mountains are your only hope for survival, but it will take at least a month to get there. Will you make it? Will your family live?
It’s a horrifying scene that has played out in the lives of tens of thousands of Kachin people in Myanmar (Burma), Southeast Asia.
While nearly 90 percent of Myanmar’s population is Buddhist, those who live in the Kachin State on the northern border, near China, are overwhelmingly Christian. In a combination of ethnic cleansing and a grab for the rich resources (jade and amber) found in Kachin State, thousands have been tortured and killed. An estimated 100,000 Kachin people are displaced, living in makeshift camps along the Myanmar-China border. Since 2011, the Myanmar military has destroyed and
ransacked an estimated 200 churches, sometimes replacing them with Buddhist pagodas.
Thuza*, LHF’s translation coordinator in Myanmar, hears heart-wrenching stories from the lips of the Kachin people he and his humanitarian care team are serving.
“We are not allowed to enter the war zone,” Thuza explained, “but we are close enough to save people who are running from war. The Burmese military blocks all roads, not allowing victims to get to safe zones. (They are afraid freedom fighters will hide among the villagers.) They are burning the villages, killing villagers. The villagers run at midnight to get to safe areas.
“But some villagers who can’t run – pregnant women, old people and some infants – are left in the village. The military kills the people who are left as punishment.
“I am so sad, with tears...Children lose their families and their future. They don’t have enough food and shelter. I’m so sad to see their hopeless faces,” Thuza said.
BRINGING HOPE TO THE HOPELESS
For people who have lost everything, the reminder that Jesus loves them and is with them in every circumstance is priceless.
Through a mission grant from the national Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), LHF has translated and published 3,000 copies of A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories in the Jingpho language, spoken by most Kachin people.
PERSECUTED KACHIN FAMILIES
As they deliver care to Kachin refugees, Thuza and his team are distributing the Bible storybooks to families and reminding them of God’s love for them.
“This book is a best friend for children, especially for those who live with fear and loneliness in civil war areas,” Thuza said. “The book is their companion and their inspiration. They find peace and security, knowing about God’s love and care by reading it as they run from place to place.
“These children won’t exchange the book for a ton of gold or toys as it’s a very precious gift for them. They lost everything in the war, but they have hope through the Word of God.”
The books are proving especially useful for sharing the Gospel in regions controlled by the military.
“We can’t enter the civil war area to spread the Gospel, but the books can pass through to get into those areas for children in need,” Thuza explained. “The books share the Gospel, even when we are not able to do so in those places.”
Photos: (top) San Myit Htwe and her two sisters. Thuza writes, “Their family is very poor; their mother died from a viper bite recently. San is a very bright student who loves reading her Bible storybook and telling her sisters the stories every day.” (middle) Kachin children hide in the mountain, having heard the military is approaching. (bottom) A Kachin girl in traditional dress reads her Bible storybook.
SHARING THE GOSPEL WHERE YOU’RE
PASTOR’S WIFE SHARES GOOD NEWS IN WORKPLACE
Anyone who’s ever gone to an LWML, LEA or LCMS district convention has seen exhibitor tables, where companies and organizations distribute brochures and free giveaway items like pens, keychains or stress balls.
Chances are, the stress ball you pick up might be from an imprinting company called Ariel Premium Supply, headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. And the logo printed on that stress ball might have been placed there by one of Ariel’s English-language students – who are being introduced to Jesus Christ by human resources employee Becky Shaw, through LHF’s translations of A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories
“Many of the people in Ariel’s production department are new immigrants,” explained Becky, an LCMS pastor’s wife who has worked at Ariel since late last summer. “One of the bonuses of their employment is the opportunity to learn English during their lunch periods. So I teach more than 30 students in six different classes, plus one-on-one classes.”
they are open to learning about American holidays.”
So in December, Becky led the class in reading A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories in English, so they could learn how and why the celebration of Christmas began. Then, as a gift, Becky presented them with LHF translations of the same book, in their own languages.
While the classes are language-focused, questions about the content have come up. “Hopefully, our study whets their appetite. Last week, one [of my students] asked what ‘sin’ meant. So I had a chance to explain,” she said. “This week’s lesson is on the promise of the Savior to Adam and Eve after their fall into sin.”
As she searched for good teaching materials for her students, Becky recalled that LHF provides easy-to-read Bible storybooks in the Chinese and Vietnamese languages. Fortunately, the company president and majority of the managers are Christian, and they didn’t mind that Becky would be sharing the faith as part of her teaching.
“Some of the students are Christian, including Catholic, but the majority have no religion at all,” Becky said. “But
Becky said she believes anyone who has basic teaching skills should keep their eyes open for opportunities like hers.
“The first step would be finding out if there an interest [for a program like this] among the associates [in the workplace],” she said. “It can be advertised as ‘English class’ or ‘English class using the Bible.” We do not want to trick them into coming so we can share the Gospel, but we hope that what they hear in English or their native language would produce reception to the Holy Spirit’s call.”
Now that her husband has retired from active ministry, Becky is thankful for the many blessings God has given her through her new position.
“I love this job because God has transferred my ‘mission’ from our church members and visitors to the immigrants at this company,” she concluded.
Becky Shaw, at right, leads her co-workers through studying A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories in the English language. Because she’s given them LHF’s Chinese and Vietnamese translations of the same book, the students can read for better understanding at home, in their own languages.